Totally a Romantic Comedy
by MarkHunter
Summary: As the title says. Will and Sonny in an alternative-universe at college, in a romantic comedy. The story opens with Will and Sonny pretending to be getting married, despite having just met each other.
1. Chapter 1

Sonny sat at a table in the student union seething inside as he eavesdropped on the conversation happening at the next table. He knew eavesdropping was an unattractive quality, but he couldn't help himself. And he thought maybe he should just gather up his books, his notes, all his index cards he had spread out, and move tables. The place was full, but he could probably sit at the end of the table with the girl in the back by the vending machine who was painting her nails. Maybe putting up with nail polish fumes would be better than sitting here and listening to this conversation.

And yet he didn't move.

You know, it would be such a hassle to pack everything up. Mental note to explore this later and see if he has some masochistic or self-loathing tendencies he should be working on.

"Can I sit here?" asked a guy, setting down his book bag at the end of the table. "There's no open tables. I'll just be a sec."

"Oh, sure, yeah, go ahead," Sonny told the strikingly good-looking blonde. And added internally, 'if you don't mind that the students at the table behind us are complete idiots. And loud about it, too.'

"Oh no! They're back on!" laughed a girl from the table behind him. Sonny looked up and tried to shoot the red head an angry stare but she was just looking up at the student union television that hung in the corner.

"Grosssssss," said the girl next to her. "Er my Gawwwd, I think they're gonna kiss some more."

"Why do they have to show this stuff on daytime television? It's practically porn!" said a third girl who wore a stupid big pink bow in her hair.

Sonny rolled his eyes and while he should be looking over all his Poly Sci notes and trying to memorize the pros and cons of school vouchers and their impact on public education he looked up at the television.

It was a soap opera he had never watched, called "Tears, Fears, Mares and Gears" and apparently was about the lives and loves of a some rodeo people and professional car racers. It sounded ridiculous to Sonny. But what was even more ridiculous to Sonny was this table's reaction to a gay couple that was featured in today's episode.

Sonny knew enough about soaps—his mother used to watch that one about the hospital—that they were usually all about drama, far-fetched plots and sex scenes. So if a gay couple on this rodeo-racing show was kissing how should that be the least bit scandalous?

Look! Thought Sonny. They aren't even in a bed. They're standing in a stable. And there's not even any tongue. For crying out loud!

"I mean, they need to show more of that super hot cowboy, Wyatt and pit-girl Angel in bed together, this is just disgusting and it's so unbelievable and stupid."

"You're stupid," said Sonny. You know what? Restraint wasn't always his strong suit, and he admittedly knew he had a bit of a temper. He will put this on the list to explore these personality qualities, as well. Later. After he told this dips off.

"Exxxxxxcuse me?" said Bow-on-her-head girl, her lip curling up at him.

"No one asked you. We are having a private conversation," said the red-head.

"Well, for someone who values privacy you were being awfully loud," said Sonny.

"It's, like, totally a freeee country," snarled one of the girls, getting more ugly by the second, Sonny thought. "We have a right to our opinion. And they gay couple is grossssss."

The red head crossed her arms defiantly and said to Sonny, "I'm so sick of the media's agenda to push gay rights down my throat and try to make it like it's okay. I mean, it does not have to ruin a good soap and nobody wants to see these guys kissing."

"I do," said the blonde at the other end of Sonny's table. Sonny looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

"No, you don't," said Ugly Girl.

"Yes. I do. I love it. I think they should show it every day. I think they should show more. They should be in bed right now, and Drew can be showing Cam how much he loves him and worried he was about him after that rodeo stunt he pulled last week."

"Uggh," said the red head.

"Ha!" laughed Sonny, flashing a wide smile at the blonde. Oh my god, did he notice before how handsome he was? He had, objectively. As a human being, because it was impossible to look at this guy and not notice how hot he was. But now? Sonny was having a hard time restraining himself from leaping over the table and kissing the guy full on the mouth. So hot.

"You watch the show?" Ugly girl said.

She had to be noticing how hot he was, too, thought Sonny, look at her.

"Yep," said the blonde. "I totally ship 'Dream'. "

"Was that English?" muttered Sonny. "I have no idea what you just said."

The blonde looked at him, now. Oh my god, his blue eyes sparkled, and Sonny thought he could completely lose himself in them forever. Then the blonde smiled. Smiled at Sonny. Oh. My. God.

"That's the most unrealistic thing I have ever seen, by the way," bow-head said. "Gay guys in their early twenties like that are not going to be having a serious relationship. I read this gay guy's article on them and he said so, too. They are going to be all about getting laid and one night stands and would never actually be like this."

"You've done reading on this subject?" asked Sonny. "For someone who is completely disinterested, you seem to have taken a lot of interest it."

"It's not unrealistic," said the blonde defensively. "They love each other and are committed to each other and that sort of thing happens for gay people just like it happens for straight people."

"Yeah right," extremely Fugly girl said. She was just begging for the argument to continue, but then a sudden realization washed over Sonny. You can't always argue with stupid. Poor blonde, though, he just kept at it.

"Yes, I'm right. Look at me, I am in a serious monogamous relationship with the man of my dreams and couldn't be happier or more committed." The blonde looked at Sonny. Then he winked.

Sonny flinched in the smallest of ways. He could see this guy was up to something.

Both girls let out haughty breaths and gave defying stares, and he could see the blonde's frustration growing.

"Am I right, babe?" asked the blonde of him. "What, have we been together—two years?"

"Two and a half," said Sonny not missing a beat. Inside, Sonny grinned, but he could see that the blonde was completely serious about making a point to these idiots. He admired his tenacity and determination.

"And we talk about the future and marriage and adopting kids, just like Drew and Cam. So fuck off."

"Okay, whatever," said the girls. Because whatever is a super great comeback when you can't actually think of one, thought Sonny. He could see they just wanted to call the whole conversation off, because they knew they were losing and they didn't actually want to be open minded about their opinions at all. At least not today.

"Not, whatever," said the blonde. "Admit it. Admit that it's not unrealistic. Also, Drew and Cam are really hot together and they have a lot of fans and if you don't like it, maybe you should quit watching."

"We've been watching this show since we were kids, we're the real fans. And real fans don't care about the gay couple and they should listen to the fact that real fans don't want to see this."

The blonde practically leaped out of his chair the frustration growing and now making him flush even.

Sonny pulled him down, to the chair next to him and gave him his best puppy dog face. "Don't get upset, sweetheart, they aren't worth it."

The blonde looked Sonny over. He released a big breath.

"Look," said Sonny, tugging at the blonde's collar and smoothing it out. "Not everyone is going to understand. We know what we have and we don't have to defend ourselves against the haters. We have each other." Sonny offered him a smile.

"Yeah," the blonde answered quietly. "I don't know why I got so worked up."

"It's okay," said Sonny. He glanced over at the girls who were staring at them and raised his voice, "So, that reminds me, I was thinking for the wedding, someday, how about Christmas time? I love the idea of a winter wedding, rich velvets and capes and snow on the ground."

"That sounds really nice. You've given this some thought." The blonde half-smiled at him. "But for our honeymoon, we should go somewhere tropical. The ocean, the sun and the sand. You with your shirt off, like, the whole time. That'd be so sexy."

Sonny's insides felt like they were lit up like a candle. No… candles, plural. Birthday cake candles. Happy Birthday to me.

"That sounds. Um. Really great." Sonny was hoping he wasn't sweating. He gulped hard and licked his lips.

"Yeah," the blonde said, now reaching out and touching Sonny's cheek gently with his thumb. "It does actually. Or. Or I would love to take you to Paris. I think it would be so romantic, you know? I want to walk the streets, holding your hand and whispering in your ear how much I adore you." With that his hand dropped down and rested on top of Sonny's hand. With an index finger he traced small circles on Sonny.

"Uh…" sputtered Sonny. "Okay. Or that."

"Shutup!" said a girl from the table—Sonny didn't bother looking to see which one.

"Do you want to adopt right away or should we have a little time just you and me first?" he asked Sonny.

Hmm, thought Sonny. Which would be better? It would be nice to have some couple time, a time when they could just travel together and make love on the kitchen floor and spend lazy Sundays in bed together reading the newspaper and working on a crossword puzzle. But then, again, he wanted to have kids when they were young and had energy and it would be amazing to have a family that—oh my god. Sonny realized that he might be taking this charade too seriously.

"Right away, is what I think. Is that okay?" said the blonde, interrupting his thoughts. "I mean, I love kids and I think you and I are going to be amazing dads and we have so much love to share. You know?"

"Yes," said Sonny. "I know what you mean. I want to have everything with you. I…"

"I don't even believe this!" said the red-head from the table.

On the screen, Drew and Cam—that must be their names, right?—began kissing again, and one of them was pushing the other up against the stable wall in a fiery embrace. "I hope, they're going to do it now," said the handsome blonde. "Sometimes they get cock-blocked by the dumbest things. Like, a horse bolting from the stall, that was the last time."

Sonny smiled at him and looked at the television. His fake fiance just kept talking, "What I really want to see is them with their shirts off, kissing each other. Maybe them with everything off, and we can see them sweaty, mid-thrust, pounding into one another, screaming out each other's names."

The girls seemed equally disgusted with the blonde's conversation and the on-screen kiss. He looked at Sonny, almost apologetically, "I mean, yes, they love each other, and also, I want to see them expressing that love with one another, in all the ways couples do, you know?"

"Absolutely, hon," said Sonny.

The girls could stand it no longer, they packed up their things and quickly left the student union building.

"Bye," the blonde said cheerfully to them.

"See ya," called Sonny.

After they were gone, Sonny just wasn't about to go back to looking at Poly Sci notes, that was for certain. "I don't think they should be invited to our wedding," said Sonny.

"Nah," agreed the blonde. "I want something smaller anyway, just family and closest friends, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Sonny, who couldn't stop himself from smiling no matter how hard he tried. "But tell me the truth, if you don't want a winter wedding, we could do something different. Spring? Fall?"

"No, no, it's perfect in the winter. Maybe something even for New Year's, though. I love New Year's Eve."

"I do, too," said Sonny. "I have this box, and I write my New Year's resolutions and put them in it and then next year I like to see how I did." Why was he still talking, he asked himself. The box was something completely private that he hated talking about and here he was opening up to a complete stranger about it? A stranger he had just met two seconds ago and now they were planning a fake future?

The blonde looked like he was listening and thinking about the box and the resolutions, when Sonny suddenly said, "If we're going to get married I should probably know your name."

The blonde laughed warmly. "It's Will. Sorry, yeah, we probably should have actually met before I dragged you into that."

"No, I think I sorta started it," said Sonny. "And you didn't drag me into it, I went willingly. I'm Sonny."

"Ah, nice to meet you Sonny." Will glanced at the soap opera where the closing credits rolled on. "Oh, man, 2 pm, I gotta run. I got like, ten things to do before my next class."

Try not to let the disappointment show on your face, Sonny, he told himself. Keep it cool. "So, um, if we're going to get married we should probably also, maybe have like a first date? Can I get your number? Maybe we could do something this weekend?"

Will picked up a pen that lay in front of Sonny and jotted down a phone number on the note card that talked about how advocates of school vouchers believe the competition for the money provides motivation to improve public school performance. "Here's my number," said Will. "But I'm kinda busy this weekend, I think. I've got like three dates lined up already. But text me."

Sonny narrowed his eyes. "Uh…three dates?"

Will offered a shrug. "You know how it can be sometimes. But, seriously, text me, we'll see, okay?" With that Will left the student union building.

And Sonny was left wondering what the hell just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

"So there is absolutely no way I am going to text him," Sonny told his friend Turtle. He had told him the whole story while they ran on treadmills side by side. Working out in the dorm basement was their new usual Wednesday evening routine and he had been waiting all day to tell him about his remarkable encounter at the Student Union.

"Absolutely not," Turtle said firmly. As firmly as one can say it when they are out of breathe and panting.

"Right," said Sonny, watching his short, stout friend wipe furiously at the sweat from his brow. Meanwhile, Sonny was upping his treadmill speed another level. "Except…did you catch the part where I told you he is the most ridiculously handsome and sexiest guy I ever met?"

"No," he said. "I heard you. That is EXACTLY why we have agreed you shouldn't text him. Well, that, and he has three dates lined up for this weekend. He sounds like a major player!"

"I know," Sonny frowned. "I've been played before and it sucks. I really never want to be cheated on and have that used feeling again…." Sonny looked over at Turtle, who was eyeing him up sympathetically. Sonny shrugged. "But…but what if this guy is different? We are getting married, afterall. It's going to be a winter wedding."

"I love winter weddings," said Turtle, slowing the treadmill speed down 2 levels. Almost down to a walk. He gripped the sides of the treadmill desperately, moving like his legs weighed two tons. "I would look amazing in a red velvet tux."

Sonny laughed even though he wasn't certain whether Turtle was kidding or not. "I'm sure you think so. I hope it snows a little that day. And it'll be New Year's Eve. Maybe downtown Chicago at The Drake."

"Oh my god, you didn't tell me you guys even picked out a place." Turtle adjusted the settings to his treadmill so that it was no longer on any incline and grabbed at his water bottle.

"Well," hedged Sonny. "I mean…" Sonny shrugged. The Drake was something he had thought of at dinner time when he had been busy going over the conversation in his head. He imagined they would serve choice of chicken or fish, with a vegetarian option and that they could have a string quartet play. He had gotten stuck wondering what song they were going to have for their first dance.

"Seriously, Sonny, that's what you want, isn't it?"

"What?" he asked.

"To get married? To find Mr. Right and settle down and have kids and be married and live happily ever after?"

"Well, yeah, you know that. Is it wrong? I just want like, a partner, you know?" Turtle knew just about everything. He had been Sonny's good friend since Freshmen year, actually meeting at a LGBTQ mixer the first week of school. Turtle—whose real name was Timothy, had actually brought his pet turtle along with him that day. He explained that he was the ultimate ice breaker. When Sonny expressed doubt, Turtle had responded, "Well, see, you're talking to me, right? It worked."

Sonny frowned at his friend and upped the treadmill two more speeds.

"I don't think you can handle the inevitable heart break this guy brings," Turtle said firmly. "I mean, are you forgetting? Everyone could see that Max Masters was a cheater and a scumbag and a slut…"

"Turtle," warned Sonny, who for reasons he should also explore later still felt very defensive of Max. But, seriously. Kind of a slut.

"…And YOU were the one who said you couldn't believe we didn't warn you. That we just sat back and watched it happen. So, I'm warning you now. I don't even have to meet this guy to tell you he is bad news and stay away."

Sonny only made a breathy noise through his teeth at him, "Psssshh," he said.

"Seriously we just got you over Max Masters breaking your heart—actually, you aren't even over him are you-?"

"I am!" Sonny interjected defiantly.

"- but you do not need to run to this guy, he's trouble." he said, now stumbling completely and practically falling off the back of the treadmill. Sonny was about to ask him if he was alright, but he quickly jumped to his feet and tried to pretend it didn't happen. Sonny just smirked at him instead.

"I get to have a say in this because after Max broke your heart, guess who had to pick up the pieces?" Turtle stood on the ground and leaned against the treadmill. "This guy!" he said, dramatically, pointing to himself.

"And now," he continued "You are looking to date this major player when that is so not what you want. Sonny, you aren't even thinking right. You do not need to go looking for the nearest asshole…"

"No," said, Sonny, doubtfully. "This guy is not an asshole. This guy—Will—is funny and passionate and charming-"

"Three dates, Sonny."

"I know, I'm not going to text him." Sonny paused and tried to let the decision sink in." But…" Sonny looked at the mirror and met Turtles's eyes there. "But he wants to adopt right away…"

"Do not. I repeat. Do. Not. Date this guy. He is not in the same place as you Sonny. He is hot, and he knows it. He is just out for flings and one night stands and to sleep around. And you say you want more than that. What about that one really nice guy you were hanging out with? Danny?"

"Danny? Oh," said Sonny. "I don't know. Nothing became of it, I don't think he was into me. We were hanging out for a while there, but then he just started blowing me off. Thanks for reminding me, though. Let's see, got my heart stomped on by Max, not good enough for Danny…yeah, I feel really great right now. You want to bring up the guy who broke up with me because I reminded him too much of his mother?"

"Well," said Turtle. "I mean, not even his dad. His MOTHER."

"Let's stop," said Sonny. So, Sonny had yet to meet anyone he had a real connection with. He kept choosing the wrong guys apparently and texting Will would probably be a mistake.

Sonny wanted monogamy and certainly wasn't looking to date multiple guys at the same time. He knew that about himself for certain. And he didn't need to examine it further—he knew instantly that it would take a special kind of idiot to sign up to date someone who was juggling so many guys at once.

But then he thought of Will and how strongly he had been defending that soap opera couple's relationship. Didn't he seem to be a romantic? Pretending they were getting married and talking about having kids...the whole thing had felt so fun and special.

"But. I don't know," Sonny said quietly. "What if Will was the one?"

"Ahem." Turtle held up three fingers.

Sonny sighed and held up just one right back at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Will couldn't help checking his phone. Again.

"Are you waiting for an important call or something?" asked the guy across from him at the restaurant table. The guy set down his fork full of pancakes and looked at Will seriously.

Will's eyes went wide. Busted. "What? Oh no, I'm sorry." Will offered the guy a smile, but in return only got a deadpan expression. Okay. Hmm.

"It is rude, I'm sorry. To keep checking my phone while we are in the middle of a date, that's not right. Here, let me put it away and then I promise I will give you my full attention," apologized Will.

Reluctantly, Will slipped the phone into his back pocket. He then looked up and tried to smile at the guy in front of him. Waiting for some sort of acknowledgement from the guy here. Waiting. Waiting. Still waiting. Okay, just, nevermind. Eat your pancakes, dude.

Here it was, Sunday, and Will was on his brunch date. And there was still a part of—a miniscule one now, as hope diminished all the time—that the guy he met on Wednesday was going to text him. How crazy! Why did Will care so much, he wondered to himself. Just because, that never happens, thought Will. They never not text or call or something. That must be it. I mean, that's got to be the reason he cares so much. Just shock, is all.

But he was just going to have to let it go. He was going to have to focus on this tall stud he had met at the gym last weekend.

"So," Will said.

"So," the guy said.

"So," Will struggled to fill the awkward silence. "Tell me about yourself?" Lame, thought Will. But he was really trying here to get the conversation going. Let's be honest: Talking to this guy was like trying to start a car in the middle of a zero degree day. Will just kept turning the ignition and pumping the gas and waiting for the car to finally start.

"Not much to say," said Mr. Dead Battery.

"Okay. Where are you from?"

"Peoria"

Will smiled warmly. "Oh, hey, I've never actually been there. I think I heard they have riverboat casinos? I don't know much else about it. What's it like?"

The guy shrugged.

Will smiled tightly. "I mean, you know, is it a bigger city? Was it gay friendly? Did it have a lot to do or…?"

"I don't know," the guy said.

"Oh," said Will, thinking about how much work this whole date had been. This guy was actually making Will miss the calculus homework he was doing earlier.

"What's your major?" asked Will, desperate for a subject that could ignite the fire under this guy.

"Communications."

"Oh," said Will. "Do you like that sorta stuff? What is that, speech classes and publication stuff? Lots of writing and talking and…communicating, yeah?"

"Uh huh," said the guy, actually sounding just like a sputtering engine, Will thought. This guy should probably think about changing majors, right? Am I Right? Will laughed to himself. Well, if you can't laugh with them, might as well laugh at them.

Maybe he should just stop trying to talk and listen and try to stare at his pretty face. Well, not REALLY pretty face. Good looking enough with his deep tan and strong jaw line. His teeth were a little messed up, Will noticed now. One of his best features, his abs, was hidden under a button down shirt. Will had approached him in the gym in the first place because he was ripped.

"Do you live in the dorms?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"Willis."

"Oh, I hear that one gets kinda crazy,and there's parties every weekend! But they have really good food—they have that kick ass eatery thing going for them, right?"

The guy shrugged.

Okay, so clearly this date was a bust. As, frankly, the other two had been this weekend, the dinner dates on Friday and Saturday with the other guys. Will didn't think he was being too picky. He was just looking for someone he at least mildly enjoyed spending time with. And somehow, that was the most difficult thing.

Maybe he was too busy to be dating, anyway. He had his double major going—Computer Science and Business. On top of that he was trying to get a new band together since his last one, "Trevor's Exes", broke up when the lead singer started dating Trevor again.

But gees, it was not that he was looking for a soul mate—god, no. He didn't even think soul mates was a real thing, you know? Soulmates and meant to be and the one of your dreams, that's all kind b.s. He chuckled to think about how he had argued with those girls that Drew and Cam had a realistic love. He was just so ticked off at those homophobic girls. And please, if they thought Wyatt and Angel were realistic, Drew and Cam were a 1000 times better, because if anyone DID represent soul mates on that show it was definitely 'Dream.'

And IF soul mates was something that happened beyond TV—he conceded that there were people who certainly claimed it to be true—Will felt certain of one thing. It wasn't going to happen to him.

Will believed there were probably lots of people in the world that you could be happy with and the trick is finding someone who doesn't mind you and you don't mind him. He figured success is when you are both willing to stick it out through the lousy times because the good times outweigh them. But do you know how often people even bothered to do that?

At any rate, he figured he would probably be about 30 when this happened, that he met someone who he thought he could do the long haul with. Then, maybe at around 36-37 would be his first divorce, you know? Will sighed heavily at the thought and tried to shake himself out of this discouraging mood.

Nope, for now, he just wanted some fun.

Fun. Like the opposite of this date.

"Do you like to do anything for fun?"

"Nothing special."

Will felt like he was banging his head against a wall. You know who seemed fun? That guy he met last Wednesday, that helped him put those girls in their place. He had noticed the rainbow flag pin on the really hot guy's backpack and made some excuse to sit down at the table with him and next thing you know they were exchanging witty banter and torturing the small-minded people around them.

Why didn't he text? Will wondered. Again.

His hand reached into his pocket and he could feel the phone in his grasp. God, he wanted to check if that guy had called.

"Well, like, what did you do earlier this weekend?" asked Will.

"Worked."

"Oh, okay, so you have a job, too! So, what is it you do anyway?"

"I'm a stripper at The Sugar Shack."

Will almost spit his orange juice at him. It was as if the guy purposely waited until Will had taken a sip of it before he answered. Will searched his face, trying to determine if the dude had suddenly developed a sense of humor. Nope, he looked completely serious.

"You probably should have led with that," said Will, taking a napkin and wiping up himself from where his OJ had dribbled down his chin.

"Really? Why? Does it turn you on?" The guy asked, with not a hint of humor.

"Uh," said Will searching for the right words. Did it turn him on? He looked over at Mr. Fab Abs, and wondered just for a second if it did. Actually….It did not. Will may be into just having fun and checking out the possibilities and dating a lot of guys to see what was out there but he just did not see himself with a stripper. I mean, somethings were just too much. Too much, indeed.

Luckily for him the waitress was just walking past. "Check, please," said Will. He reached into his pocket looking for his wallet so he could pay, first, though, pulling out his phone and seeing if he had any new text messages.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you lost?" asked someone. It was Wednesday again and Sonny was back at his table in the student union, like usual. He looked across at the guy who just spoke and saw that it was Will just about to sit down at his table with him.

"Huh?" Sonny was uncertain where Will was going with this. His palms felt clammy instantly and his mouth unbearably dry. Honestly, he was even more handsome than Sonny remembered if that was possible. Sonny figured he probably looked like crap himself, his face probably painted right now with the guilt for not texting Will.

Without a word, Will made a face and motion, indicating that he wanted to sit down. Sonny quickly waved him the okay and Will made himself comfortable.

"Well, I don't know if you watch on a regular basis, so I thought you might be lost," said Will, jutting his chin toward the student union television and bringing his attention to the show that was on. Oh, thought, Sonny, he was talking about 'Tears, Fears, Mares and Gears' again.

"No, I've never really watched," said Sonny. He pushed down the nervous feelings he had over seeing Will and tried to clear his face from any signs of anxiety. Look calm, look cool, look casual, Sonny thought. He leaned back a little in his chair going for a 'relaxed look'. No, wait, what if he puts his hand over here-or maybe if he tilts his head-that's good. And then this hand could be draped over the back of this chair…

He looked at Will, who was watching him curiously. Sonny tried smiling.

"So let me catch you up," said Will, smiling back. "See there? Wyatt is a cowboy with a mysterious past who just came into town, and Angel is the daughter of a professional race car driver. Angel is supposed to marry Lance Michaels the son of a rich billionaire who sponsors her dad."

"Wow, so far this show sounds really just like my family! So relatable and realistic," Sonny said. Will gave him a sly smile.

"And Angel's brother is Drew, who is also a driver with a budding career and he's been secretly dating Cam, who is a professional rodeo cowboy."

"I thought Drew was the cowboy."

Will looked at Sonny like he felt sorry for him. "No. Cam. Cowboy."

"Are there any scenes where Cam uses his lasso to rope Drew and then ties him up? In bed?" asked Sonny, trying to keep a straight face while he asked.

"Oh my gosh, I love the way you think," said Will enthusiastically.

Sonny tried to keep himself from just beaming at hearing Will say "I" and "love" and "you" all together. Though, you know, there were some other words in there, too. He attempted to keep his smile on the reserved side for Will.

"But not yet," said Will. "It took them like a year to even start kissing. Right now, their relationship is still sorta a secret because they both have their reputations to protect. Well, Lance, Angel's fiancée just found out, and he's going to use it to blackmail Drew and have Drew sabotage Angel's budding relationship with Wyatt."

Sonny frowned. He really should not be trying to follow this, as his brain was needed for his studies, right? He had at least two exams at the end of the week. And hadn't he decided that Will was no good for him? Hadn't he come to the conclusion that he was NOT going to plunge head-first into a relationship with a guy who was probably never going to even call it a relationship? He was going to find someone who was more about stability and less…handsome. Less sexy. Less funny. Less-

"Oh, look, they're on!" said Will reaching over and smacking him in the shoulder. "Oh, gees, Drew looks really hot in that blue v-neck t-shirt, am I right?"

Sonny glanced up. "Okay, yes, you are correct."

Sonny pretended to scribble down a note to himself while he muttered, "Buy blue v-neck shirt…."

Will smiled and tapped the imaginary note, Sonny was writing, "…So Will can see me in it." Sonny looked up at him and Will said, with a wink, "Please."

Sonny laughed and then watched Will pull out his phone and type furiously.

"What are you doing?" asked Sonny. Oh, was he texting…was he texting other guys while sitting here with Sonny? Yes, probably. Why wouldn't he? Sonny groaned at the thought. He should have known better.

"I'm tweeting," said Will. "I have some friends I tweet with about 'Dream' That's Drew and Cam's ship name. See, right now I am saying how hot Drew looks in blue. Actually, my entire timeline is filled with people saying the same thing." Will flashed his phone at Sonny so he could get a peek.

"You are ridiculous," said Sonny.

Will looked at him with a hurt look on his face. Oh my god, thought Sonny, he did not mean to put that sad look there, at all.

"In a completely adorable and entertaining way," added Sonny.

"Okay." Will laughed, bashfully, Sonny thought. And it seemed so sincere.

The two watched the soap, or rather Will watched the soap and tweeted and Sonny worked on his homework, highlighting and jotting down notes as he looked over the required reading, while occasionally they shared snide remarks or off-hand comments.

Every time Drew and Cam came on the screen, Will urged Sonny to watch.

"Drew shouldn't let himself be blackmailed," said Sonny. "He should just come out."

"It's not that easy," said Will. "He's got this image and fans and sponsors. He might lose it all."

"Who sponsors him, Chik fil-A?"

"Ha! Well, plus, he worries about Cam's career because the guy who owns the horse Cam rides is a huge homophobe and wouldn't let Cam ride him anymore."

"I guess they need to have drama on soaps," Sonny shook his head and was just about to go back to his work.

"So," said Will suddenly.

"What?" asked Sonny, examining the funny look on Will's face. His stomach tightened and he braced for what was coming next.

"So, I don't think I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I gave you my phone number and asked you to text me."

"Oh," said Sonny. His head began to spin. He carefully set down the highlighter and looked at Will. "Yeah. Uh. I didn't."

"Yeah, I noticed," said Will looking down at his phone. "Unless you are this unknown number that says if I send this text to twenty of my friends by the end of the day I will have good luck."

"That wasn't me," said Sonny, "I also was not the one who texted you that Nike will send you a free pair of shoes if you forward it to a hundred contacts."

Will didn't look phased by the joke for a single second. "I knew that, too. I can't wait to get my Nikes, I hope they come soon."

"Of course, they just need your social security number now so they can send them," said Sonny straight-faced.

Will leaned in and actually looked quite serious. "Is there a reason you didn't text me?"

Looking at this guy's amazing blue eyes he couldn't really think of one, his brain was turning to mush. Something to do with Turtle. Or Max or Danny or the guy who thinks Sonny was a Suzy-homemaker-mother-type in the making. Or the number three.

"Three!" Sonny blurted out.

"What?"

"You…you said you had three dates that weekend."

"Yeahhhh," said Will, clearly not understanding.

"Well, the thing is, ummm."

"There's a thing," said Will. He motioned that Sonny should continue.

"Yeah, there's a thing. That's not really what I'm looking for. I'm not actually looking to be, like, one of many guys you date, alright?"

"You aren't?"

"No, not really."

"But…you wanted to go on a date with me. I mean, at first. You asked for my phone number and I believe you said you wanted to go on a first date."

"Yeah…"

"But then you found out I had other previously arranged dates and you DIDN'T want to go on a date with me?"

"Right, because—"

"Dates, I made with people well in advance to meeting you, by the way."

"Yes, but, it's the fact that you date so many people at once. You don't just date one guy at a time."

Will frowned. "So if we dated, you want to be exclusive? If you dated me, you want to be the only guy I'm dating?"

"Yeah. Kinda. I mean, yes."

"You are saying, that to date you, I have to stop dating other people?"

"Well—"

"But…But, we haven't even gone on one date yet! You want me to date just you and might as well, go right to boyfriends, but I hardly know you and you hardly know me! I don't know what you have on your pizza or what your hobbies are or what music you like. You don't know how I take my coffee or what I put on my toast or what my family is like or my favorite teams or—" he stopped, obviously exasperated.

Why was he making Sonny feel so stupid for this? "Oh, you don't get it! I'm not looking to just be one of many that you are dating. I don't want to be a notch on a bed post, some one-night stand…"

"Whoa, whoa, now! I didn't say we should have sex, slow down there, guy, I merely suggested you text me. I think there was only a suggestion of a first date! And notch on the bedpost? Who says that? What are you my grandma with that phrase?"

"Oh my god, are you saying I remind you of your Grandma?'

"Well, no, not really. My grandma would never accuse me of just being after one-night stands, just so you know."

At this moment, Sonny knew his temper and restraint issues might come into play. But he felt at the mercy of his emotions, "Look, I didn't text you when you told me you had three dates for the weekend, because let's just say I figured you were a little busy!"

"Thanks, that was really considerate of you not to bug me," said Will mock-serious.

"What, I'm saying is, I gotta look out for me, okay? And I know me. I shouldn't get involved with someone who is not going to be serious."

"Well, shoooooot. You want serious? Yeah sign me up, sounds awesome. Here, I was just looking for FUN and smiles and laughs, but wow, SERIOUS sounds so much better. SERIOUS sounds like a blast. What do you get to do when you are serious? Do you get to argue about why I'm not home on a Tuesday night or tell me how stupid I am for wanting to join a band or argue about whose turn it is to pick the movie? Or do you not get to go see movies cause that would be a version of FUN and you want SERIOUS?"

"Well, wow, is this an example of the fun you offer? Yelling at me and acting like an ass? We're having fun now!"

"Well, excuse me, I thought you wanted to text me, you were the one who mentioned us going out. It's impolite to get a number and not use it."

"It's impolite to tell me you have three dates!"

"Oh, yes, right. So much more polite if I would have hidden this fact from you, and then when you find out I am dating other people you could accuse me of being a cheater. That's better."

Sonny threw up his hands. "Look, I don't even know why we are having this argument. It's clear to me, we are not a good match. You want to date lots of guys and have fun and whatever…"

"Is the whatever all the notches on the bedpost you think I am making? Just to be clear." Will scowled at him, his face rife with indignation and insult.

"The whatever, is…the whatever. You are out there, dating, having fun, not thinking about marriage or settling down-"

Will's face grew redder and even more animated, "Oh my god, I am a sophomore in college! Am I supposed to be thinking about marriage and settling down?"

Sonny sighed. "No. You're fine."

"No, clearly, I am not fine, because I am not good enough for you to date. If I was fine, you would have texted me. But I guess you already decided there was something too wrong with me?"

"Look, could you shutup for a minute? I think I am just in a different place than you. The truth is I DO think about those things—marriage and settling down- okay? I don't care if that makes me stupid or a hopeless romantic or like somebody's parent."

"What? Like my grandma? "

"Well, like somebody's mother."

"What?" asked Will, clearly annoyed.

"Nevermind. My point is, I want to find 'the one' and I want it to just be me and him. I want a partner to do things with, to rely on each other and support one another. Yes, to have FUN with, but the SERIOUS part is the part where I'm looking for—" Sonny caught himself before he said the word, love, and self-corrected. Love was the word he meant, but he already sounded crazy to Will "…the real deal. I don't want to be dicked around," explained Sonny.

"Okay, what if I said, I could maybe want some of those things, too, sorta, but in, like, 10 years, Sonny! We're young! And for now I just want to have fun and talk to people and hang out with someone whose company I enjoy. So yes, dating, for fun, dating more than one guy. Does that make me horrible?"

"Of course not."

"But you still don't want to date me."

The two were silent for several minutes, alternately staring at one another and the table and the TV.

Finally Sonny said, "You aren't horrible." Far from it. You actually seem amazing. Funny, clever, articulate, passionate,…

"Well, you are not horrible either," muttered Will. His eyes met Sonny's and for that moment Sonny wondered if Will might be going over his own list of things that were not horrible about Sonny. God, what if he was?

The credits of Tears, Fears, Mares and Gears rolled. Will let out a huffy breath. "I gotta go," said Will.

"Ten things to do before your next class?"

"That bedpost isn't going to notch itself." And Sonny watched him leave the student union.


	5. Chapter 5

He was smiling.

Will had a 10 page paper due in his Com 102 class on the history of e-businesses, he couldn't find his cafeteria card anywhere and would probably go hungry until he did—ugh, he was probably going to have to live on pringles and twizzlers, and a couple other snacks he had in his room —and on top of that he was sitting in Bob & Cathy's apartment interviewing the potential drummer they may want for their new band but this guy just announced he would only do it if they could cover some Avril Lavigne songs. Seriously?

Yet, somehow, some reason, Will was sitting there with a goofy grin on his face while he was texting.

It had started the middle of last week with the *ping* of his phone telling him there was a text. He didn't recognize the number, but he recognized the joke.

*I'm sorry. If you forward this apology to 200 of your friends, Starbucks will send you a free coffee.*

*I'll take a café Americano with a shot of I'm sorry, too. Do you need me to send my social security number?*

Those texts were just the beginning. Throughout the week Will found they had started texting sorta regularly. When Sonny had spotted one of the homophobic girls from the student union, in one of his lecture classes, he seemed excited to text Will about it.

*Which girl?* Will had asked.

*The ugly one.*

*Gonna need you to be more specific.*

Will was tempted to bust into Sonny's history class and put on a big PDA show for the girl, but Sonny hadn't told him the room number or time, instead saying they were better than that and should maybe just trying to stop letting those girls get to them. Maybe Sonny was better than that, but Will couldn't make any promises, he said, and not to be surprised if he showed up ready to give Sonny a big, sloppy kiss right in front of them all. Sonny didn't exactly say no, Will had noticed.

Later, when Will was playing the game "Donut Demise" on his phone, he texted Sonny that he thought he saw one of those girls, too. But then it turned out he had confused her with the final monster on Level 120, the green hairy troll.

Sonny had ultimately been impressed he was on Level 120, claiming to be on level 56, himself. Too bad. Will had felt sorry for him and sent him some free lives and an invisibility cloak. Will figured he was a good guy, that way.

Later on, during the weekend, Will had checked in with Sonny to see if he had gotten any further in "Donut" and next thing you know they had texted back and forth for a while. Will told Sonny he had liked his rainbow flag pin-which Sonny said he had since his freshman year-and the patch he had on his backpack from the Mighty Frogs concert-it was a band Will liked, too. Turns out they had several bands in common and were both big Asteroid Crush fans and Sonny loved the Chicago Cubs just as much as Will did.

Will ended up telling him about the study group he had met with earlier in the day for calculus, and the powerpoint presentation he was going to have to give for his Art Appreciation class-only he was having trouble with the appreciation part of the class. He had asked Sonny what he had done all day.

And Sonny had texted: *I went to Upper Limits with some friends. Ever been?*

*Never heard of it.*

*Indoor rock climbing. 110 foot tall wall.*

*Oh. I'm sorry. I was busy NEVER rock climbing.*

Will had confessed his fear of heights—he was lucky he could even open up the picture Sonny had sent him of himself at the top of the boulder, without getting dizzy. But Will had not only looked at it, he saved it to his phone and made it Sonny's contact photo.

Now, Will texted Sonny from Bob's ratty couch, rolling his eyes, listening to Wanna-be Drummer describe his last band as Country-meets-Pop-meets-Reggae with a hint of R & B. Will had never heard them play, and doubted many had.

*I'm at my friend Bob's interviewing some guy who wants to be the drummer for our new band.* he texted Sonny.

*That's cool, you think he'll work out?*

*If he's the new drummer the band will be called "The band Will Horton's not in".*

*Catchy name.*

*LOL. Where do you think I left my lunch ID?*

*Check your back pocket.* was Sonny's text back.

*YOU check my back pocket.*

Will was rewarded with an *LMAO* from Sonny. Score, thought Will.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Bob, kicking Will's shoe as he walked past to sit on the other couch. Will was letting Wanna-be and Bob converse about the band details, staying mostly out of it.

He read Sonny's last text: *You lost it? Maybe someone found it and is eating lunch on your dime right now. At the Chik-fil A in Willis Tower even.*

Will thought briefly about how hungry he was and the kick ass eatery that Willis had, so despite the Chik-fil A's politics and their anti-homosexual stance, their chicken sandwich didn't sound half bad.* I'm so hungry right now I would go to Chik-fil A*

*To protest?*

Before Will has a chance to send a response, Sonny has sent another one.

*Do you need me to come feed you? I could swipe you into the cafeteria on my card?*

Will looks up and contemplates leaving Bob and Wanna-Be right then. But even after this he really does have that paper to finish. Right?

Reluctantly, Will sends: *Nooo. Thanks anyway, I'm going to just eat my jar of peanut butter that's in my room for dinner. Luckily, I love peanut butter.*

"Hey, weren't you in Trevor's Exes?" asked Wannabe Drummer of Will. "You guys were getting quite a following. Too bad you guys broke up."

"You've never dated Trevor, have you?" asked Will, still texting. As if, thought, Will. Trevor would never date an Avril Lavigne fan.

Wanna-Be mumbled something about his ex being a girl named Melissa who he met in the laundry room when he took her clothes out of the dryer before they were dry and she was upset. "Pissed," said Wanna-Be. "So then every time I'd see her she'd give me dirty looks, it got to be kinda hot, so then I started dating her roommate just to make her more pissed. Then eventually she and he roommate got in a huge fight and then she dated me just to make the roommate mad. Melissa dumped me after a week though when I slept with another ho from their floor."

He punctuated his story for Will by saying, "Too bad, I'm not gay, bro."

"It's quite alright," muttered Will shooting Bob and Cathy looks-Bob who just raised his eyebrows and nodded, and Cathy, sitting cuddled up next to Bob, who had also taken to texting.

Wanna-be wanted to know if they should all "jam" together and see if they felt any magic playing together. "Do you guys wanna play 'Complicated'?" asked the Wanna-be.

Will gets another text, but this one from Cathy. *get rid of him b4 I kill him*

Eventually, Will and Bob managed to get rid of the Wanna-Be, or rather, Cathy did it for them saying, some variation of a break-up speech, something like, "It's not us, it's you."

So Will was walking back to his dorm, still bandless, still hungry, still with a school project hanging over his head and yet he was still kinda smiling, especially when he saw the latest texts:

*BTW that couple on Tears, Fears, Mares and Gears today making out in the mechanics office today was awful.*

Will laughed out loud.* Haha, you mean Danielle and Clifford! Otherwise known as #Danifford. They're your cue to leave the room and go get a snack.*

*You must be so hungry, it's all food with you. But just the two seconds I saw of this lovemaking made me lose my appetite.*

*You are not alone. #Dannifford sucks. Never in the good way.*

Then Will writes another message right after: *Wait. You were watching TFMG today?*

*um…no.*

*Do you think you will be not watching it tomorrow at 1pm while you sit in the student union?*

Will tapped the phone against his leg as he entered the dorm building and went to the front counter. "Anyone turn in a cafeteria card?" asked Will of the front desk worker. "I really don't want to go over to the Student Services and fill out all that paperwork and…"

"You've lost it before," said the clerk and Will nodded solemnly. Will glanced down at his phone at the *ping*

*Wouldn't miss it.* said Sonny's text. Will nodded, thinking, he didn't know really at all what him and Sonny were doing. But he knew even when the desk clerk looked and told Will he was out of luck, then, Will was still smiling.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, I'm writing a book, " said Will, throwing his backpack down and sitting at the table with Sonny.

"You are?" Sonny couldn't help grinning at the sight of him. Which a logical part of his brain informed him, might be a problem.

"Yes. It's going to be like a sequel of sorts to 'Tuesdays With Morrie'. I'm calling it 'Wednesdays with Sonny.'"

"Ha!" Sonny laughed, watching Will make himself comfortable. Will reached over and took the Starbucks cup that was at the space in front of him, same space he sat last time, when everything had gone so bad.

"Café Americano," said Will, acknowledging what the drink was. Sonny motioned to the pumpernickel-flavored bagel next to it, mumbling it was "extra". He figured in case the poor guy still didn't have his cafeteria ID yet, he might be hungry. Will bowed his head, "Very kind. Thank you, sir."

Sonny knew they had texted all week, and things had been light and easy between the two of them, but he had no idea how it was going to be to see Will in person after last time's debacle. Sonny figured he shouldn't have underestimated Will's ease and charm and ability to slide right back into the chair like he belonged.

Sonny nodded, "Well, tell me more about this book. Is it full of all sorts of amazing wisdom and anecdotes and lessons on life?"

"I don't know what it will be, I just started. The first chapter is about how I need you to buy a tight fitting blue V-neck shirt. Did you buy it yet? Please tell me you bought it."

"I did not. But I looked in my closet and I own a really nice brownish colored-paisley button shirt you might like me in."

"Paisley? I think you are mistaken."

"You haven't seen me in it yet."

"I'm not sure I need to. I'm not sure anyone needs to."

"You are an ass."

"You've told me that already. That's in the first chapter."

Sonny cringed, remembering the moment. Then Will smiled and nudged him with the palm of his hand. Sonny could feel himself relax, maybe he even folded into the touch a little.

A pause came over them, as both Sonny and Will looked down at the table. "So what are we doing?" asked Will.

Sonny took a breath and looked at the ceiling. Leave it to the guy who would announce he had three dates on the weekend to just ask the upfront question and get it out on the table, right?

It's not like Sonny hadn't asked himself that question earlier, while they had been texting all week. Did he love to hear the text message chime and see that Will was writing something back? Of course. God, the guy could make him smile.

When Will had threatened to bust in on his lecture hall and put on an unforgettable public display of affection for the homophobic girl there, Sonny couldn't help imagining the whole thing playing out more than once. More than twice. He was guilty of not exactly saying "no" but not like Will would have noticed that.

There had been many a text back and forth, and Will had even tried to help his "Donut Demise" game, as sweet as he was. And they had bands and sports teams in common, at least. It was easy to talk to him—well, text him.

"I think we're becoming friends," Sonny explained to Turtle.

"Sure," Turtle has said. "You sent a picture of yourself rock climbing to everyone, right?" Was that weird? Oh, man, it was weird. Sonny, instantly had regretted it, wondering what Will had thought. Unsend, unsend…oh, how he wished you could un-send stuff sometimes.

The moment yesterday when he thought of Will, hungry and without a cafeteria card was tough for Sonny. He would offer to feed any friend, wouldn't he? But then why did his heart pound and his stomach grow knots while he waited for Will's answer? Just the thought of suddenly meeting up and being able to see him was turning something around inside of him.

Peanut butter, he said he loved it and that's what Will had said he would eat instead. And Sonny tried to not let any unfounded disappointment crowd in him.

But, after days of thought, Sonny had decided this: neither was budging, nor should they, on their dating stance. And it just didn't make any sense for them to try to force it. They had luckily found out early on that they were best off not trying a relationship. Right?

Sonny found himself still not looking Will in the eye, still looking up at the ceiling as he recited the lines he had thought and re-thought. "I think…I think dating wise, romantically speaking, I think we should just agree we are a bad match and leave it at that. It is apparent that we need different things at this time, " said Sonny slowly. "But..I think we could maybe be friends? I think there is no reason we can't have a friendship."

"Friendship?" said Will.

Sonny looked at him. He tried to read Will's face. He looked at the school notes of Sonny's Will had picked up and now had in his hands as if he was about to examine it closer. Suddenly, Sonny replayed Will's line that had led to his speech.

"Oh," said Sonny. "Um. When you said…so, what are we doing…"

"Yeah, I meant, like, what are you working on? What class? What are you doing here?"

"Oh." Unsend, thought Sonny. "Um. Political Science," Sonny mumbled.

Will just nodded, "It's okay. It's good. You got it out there, I agree. Friends. Great. So there's no confusion."

"Right, absolutely no confusion," said Sonny, not even convincingly to himself.

Just then Will seemed to notice a tall, lanky man, sashaying towards them.

"Don't look now, here comes, Jef, with one 'f'," said Will, under his breath.

"Well, well, look who it is," said the man, resting one hand one his hip and looking Will over like he was a piece of meat, thought Sonny. "One of Trevor's exes."

"Let's not even go there," Will frowned.

"Mmm hmm. Still heartbroken over it, I see. Not over that breakup?"

Sonny flinched. So, Will had dated a guy named Trevor. Another tidbit. Was Trevor, Will's Max Master's equivalent?

"I don't think I'll ever get over that breakup. We had something special going on, not gonna lie."

Sonny wondered if this guy Trevor could be an important piece to the Will Horton puzzle. Perhaps he did not always date so casually? He was damaged by a bad break up with this guy and this Jef had maybe known them as a couple, it seemed to Sonny. Sonny picked at his own bagel and took a long sip of his coffee.

"Tsk, tsk, damn shame. You guys were great."

"I loved being together," Will shrugged.

"I could see that," said Jef. "Everyone was saying it-you guys were awesome, you guys could go the distance."

"Well, whatcha gonna do? In the end it was just for fun. It really was the best threesome I ever was a part of."

Sonny sputtered. "Th—threesome?"

Will shrugged. "Well, there were four, sometimes five of us, I guess. But it was really about the threesome."

"You guys were hot together," confirmed Jef.

Will reached over and patted Sonny on the shoulder. "You aren't choking are you? Take another drink of your coffee."

"You'll find a new band, baby," said Jef. "They'll be every bit as good as Trevor's Exes."

"I'm trying," said Will.

"Your band!" said Sonny, suddenly realizing. Trevor's Exes was the name of Will's old band! Sonny figured if he was kind of guy who read horoscopes his would have said, "misunderstanding galore today."

Will shot Sonny a funny look. Then broke into a wide smile. "Oh, Sonny, this is Jef. Jef this is…my friend, Sonny."

"Jef, with one F," said Jef. If Will had been a piece of meat, Sonny felt like brussel sprouts for how Jef ignored him. He internally shrugged.

"You know what Will, I was gonna text you anyway. You should come with me and hear this band play at The Thirsty Fish on Friday," said Jef to Will. "Pavlov's Dogs? You want to go with me?"

"I've heard them!" said Will. He tapped Sonny. "These guys have an amazing sound, like Asteroid Crush a bit. You'd love them. What time? Let's all go!"

Jef shot Sonny a cold look, Sonny thought, but the words that came out of his mouth sounded chipper and excited enough at the prospect.

"Yeah, I think a lot of folks we know will be there," said Jef, "I'll text you the details."

"Okay?" Will asked Sonny. "What do you think? Want to?"

Sonny shrugged. Good thing, they had already established their relationship as friends and had settled that early in the conversation. So there could be no mistaking any invitations.

Sonny said, "Could be fun. Sure, yeah, just let me know when you find out when we're going. Jef, with one F, do you want to stay and sit down and watch Tears, Fears, Mares and Gears with us? I hear it's a 'Dream' day."

Will rewarded Sonny with a bright smile and kicked him playfully under the table.

"No, ain't nobody got time for that," laughed Jef. He said he'd catch Will later and he'd be texting him.

"Guess, it's just for you and me," said Will, as Jef left. He smiled and was slumping into the seat further to get more comfortable, eating the bagel and settling in to watch the television. How could someone in a hoodie, watching tv-chewing, even-look so damn irresistible and handsome?

Just friends, Sonny reminded himself. Just friends.


	7. Chapter 7

The Thirsty Fish was a place Will's old band had played before. And he tried not to let this bring him down. He would enjoy being on the other side, in the crowd this time, he assured himself. The place itself always had a fun, loose vibe. It was located just far enough off campus to not be under supervision by the college and have a good mix of the younger townies, too, but close enough that a large number of students went there all weekend long. There was public transportation that took you practically from campus right to the door; the cover charge was cheap; the bartenders and bouncers were hot.

At the bus stop off by the library, Will had met up with Jef and Sonny and Sonny's friend, Timothy—who said to call him Turtle, for reasons Will didn't need to know.

"You ARE incredibly handsome," said Turtle when they shook hands and were waiting in line to load the bus.

Will was a bit taken a back. "Thank you?"

Sonny had pulled Turtle away and Jef just said, "Dang, sugarplum, why they call you Turtle if you make moves so fast?"

You had to be 19 to get in to the club and those who were over 21 could legally drink. They also were the ones who would buy the drinks and give them to the underage crowd and no one running the place could care less. Oh, right, another reason The Thirsty Fish was so popular. It might as well be Canada, with all the drinking you could do at 19. Conveniently enough, both Jef and Sonny were 21, old enough to do some purchasing for Turtle and Will.

It was a bit of a surprise to Will, that Sonny was 21, a junior, and without trying to insult him too much, asked why he still lived in the dorms. Most upperclassman liked to rent a house or at least an apartment. Will felt as a sophomore himself, still in the dorms, he was surrounded mostly by freshman. But he had a single and you couldn't beat the amount of money being saved. Also, next year, he knew he definitely wanted to move into a house, so he hung on to that idea.

"I don't want to go anywhere else. I love the cafeteria food," Sonny answered dryly.

"Free room and board in the dorms is part of Sonny's academic scholarship," said Turtle, in his defense. "Why wouldn't he?" Will smiled at Turtle. It was nice that Sonny seemed to have such a loyal friend.

"Oh. Hey," said Will to Sonny. "So you're smart."

"Maybe."

"Smart is good. Smart is sexy," said Will, patting him playfully on the butt before going off to greet some of the other people he recognized at the club.

Jef was right about their being some other people they knew, and even Bob and Cathy had decided to meet them up there, which Will thought was cool. Will nursed a beer and talked with them. Meanwhile, Pavlov's Dogs covered some songs and mixed in their own personal hits, including, "Ring the bell", a fun one that had the crowd chanting along in the chorus. ("Ring the bell, make me salivate…") The song included lots of psychology terms about reinforcement and behavioral training but mostly it was just an upbeat and catchy tune.

"You seen Sonny?" Will asked Turtle and Jef when he realized he hadn't seen him in far too long.

"Ugh," said Turtle. "He's got two ex-boyfriends here. The one who broke up with him because of mother issues AND Max Masters is here. Would you believe they are dating each other now? Poor Sonny's just been hiding out avoiding them, I think. Unless he just decided to go home? I haven't seen him either."

"Oh, yikes," said Will making a face, and then set out to find him.

He even sent him a text. *You still here somewhere? You didn't leave did you?* but he didn't get an answer.

He combed the club until he found him at a table in the far corner, surrounded with lemon wedges and some shot glasses.

"Hey," said Will sitting down by his side.

"Uh huh," said Sonny. "Hey, you."

"So I hear your ex-boyfriends are here."

"They're dating each other! Isn't that nice?"

"Yes, that's not awkward at all," said Will.

Sonny closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.

"No, for real, damn, that sucks. I can imagine. I would hate to have to look at Trevor right now."

Sonny looked at him and stated, "Trevor. He's your ex. Hence, that name of the band." Will nodded.

Sonny picked up Will's wrist and put it almost to his mouth. He peered across at Will, their eyes meeting as Sonny looked for the unspoken approval for what he was about to do. Whatever he needed to see in Will's eyes he must have seen, because his mouth parted and his tongue skated across the inside of Will's wrist. Will could feel his pulse quicken under his touch.

He brought Will's wrist down. While holding Will's open hand in his, he sprinkled a dash of salt on the wet spot and then licked again, maintaining eye contact with Will the entire time. Will had heard the phrase "eye sex" before but he felt like this was the first time it was really happening to him.

"Ohmygod," Will murmured.

Sonny reached for the tequila drink, downed the shot. He picked up the nearby lemon and sucked a bit before putting it down.

Will swallowed hard. He licked his own lips and his eyes kept going back and forth between Sonny's eyes and Sonny's mouth.

"So, Trevor?"

"Who's thinking about HIM right now, god, Sonny."

"No, really. Was it..serious?"

"Oh, I don't know, no. Kinda. Not really. I guess, it was the longest I ever dated a person."

"How long?" God help him, Will thought, Sonny was doing it again. He was licking Will's wrist. Will was painfully aware of how tight his own jeans were right now due to seem things that were happening elsewhere on his body. He took a deep breath and watched Sonny's tongue flicker across his skin.

He knew Sonny had asked him a question. Hadn't he? "Um, uh…two months?"

"That's not really long."

"I know that." He could feel Sonny's breath, cool, on the moist spot on his skin. "He, uh, dated his way through our group of friends. Me, Steve, Mario. It was funny when we thought about it, a funny name for a band. "

"Why'd you guys break up? You and Trevor." Sonny placed a lemon wedge, face up in Will's hand.

"Oh...he just, I don't know, we just were both dating other people while we dated each other, it just sort of fizzled out," said Will. " The only reason I'm upset at Trevor is that Mario and him started back up and he talked Mario into breaking up the band. Now they're all exclusive and 'serious'. Trevor and Mario are just going to go wrap themselves in a little 'couples cocoon'."

After licking the salt off of Will's wrist, Sonny downed another shot of tequila. He then pulled Will's hand with the lemon up to his mouth and sucked on the wedge, while holding Will's hand up to his eager mouth.

Sonny pulled away, putting Will's hand back down. "You should catch up to me," he said to Will. "I'm definitely out drinking you right now."

"I was unaware it was a competition. Maybe you should… slow down? Play a little safer."

Sonny shook his head. "Maybe we should go faster. I've been thinking, Will, maybe we should say, 'fuck safe' and live dangerously?"

Will's breath caught when Sonny swore. Damn, he sounded pretty hot saying the word "fuck". How drunk was he?

Too drunk, probably, said Will's logical brain. You know better than this, Horton, he chided himself. But really, did he have to know better?

"I'm going to get you some water," said Will. "You know why people have hang overs in the morning? Because they get dehydrated. If you drink enough water tonight you can prevent it."

"You're smart," said Sonny. "Smart IS sexy."

"I AM both of those things," said Will, making a funny face and nodding. "I'll be right back with some water for you."

"Will you be long?" asked Sonny.

"You better believe I'm going to hurry back."


	8. Chapter 8

Will came back with water. As he set down the pitcher and plastic cups he said, in a disgruntled tone, "It couldn't be helped, they're following me." Sonny wasn't sure what he was even talking about, but then trailing right behind Will was Turtle, Jef with one F, and friends Will introduced when they got to the table: Bob and Cathy.

"Bob. Right. You were interviewing a drummer with Will on Tuesday," said Sonny.

"See, he's not that drunk," said Will to Turtle. "I told you, he's fine."

"I'm fuckin' awesome," said Sonny.

"F.Y.I., He only swears like that when he's drunk," said Turtle.

Will frowned. "Really? That's the only time you get to hear it?"

The group drank water—water!—and talked and laughed some more. They listened and discussed Pavlov's Dogs as they started their second set, opening with a new song, "We Can't be Trained" which had a sound almost reminiscent of Foo Fighters, Bob thought. Will and Bob joked about staging a coup and luring the drummer away, and meanwhile Turtle was making Jef with one F, arm wrestle him, for reasons Sonny couldn't follow, while Cathy officiated.

Sonny excused himself to go to the restroom, and on his way back, was when he was blindsided by Max Masters, slut. There, see, he so was a slut, I can admit it, thought Sonny. No need to defend you anymore in my mind. Slut, slut, slut.

"Oh my god, Sonny, how have you been?"

'Fuck you' was on the tip of Sonny's tongue, but he bit it back. "Great, Max. Incredible. Awesome. Everyday living the dream. I wake up happy to be alive, it's wonderful."

Sonny smiled. Max had a look like he had run over Sonny's puppy. "Sonny, I hope you know I really am so sorry. You don't have to act-"

"What? You don't have to be sorry. Why would you be sorry? Because you're dating Craig now? Craig? Really? That's just-just comical, Max. Don't apologize, it's funny. You should be laughing. All the time. Laughing at me."

"It's killing me to see you like this, this must be really hard for you," said Max, pity lacing his voice. Pity? thought Sonny. I don't need his pity. I don't need anything from him, anymore.

"No, fuck, would you stop saying sorry?" he asked sharply.

"Well, here I am with Craig, so you probably are thinking the worst…well, wow, two ex boyfriends at once, this must be hard. I know for you this is, well, that's, that's bad." He tossed his head a little, and his hair bounced like he was trying out for a shampoo commercial. Sonny sneered a little.

"No," said Sonny, deciding to act his heart out. Acting like he was up for the Academy Award. "It's the opposite of hard. Which is…which is completely soft then. I I mean, easy and pleasant then, even. I'm good Max. I am. You did me a favor."

"A favor?"

"Well, sure, you see, you freed me up, obviously."

"Sonny," said Max, sympathetically. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt, and I'm sure it is hard for you to be alone."

"It's—it's not hard for me to be alone! And, well, I'm not even alone so it's not an issue."

"You aren't?" said Max, at least losing the I-pity-you face and half-smiling. "Well, then...that's great. Good for you, Sonny. I'm...happy for you. Who are you seeing?'

"Who am I seeing?"

"Yeah, who are you dating? What's his name?"

Sonny scanned the room quickly, his eyes landing on the table in the corner. Turtle? Jef, with one F? Bob? Cathy?! No, wait, there he is.

"Will Horton," said Sonny.

Max followed Sonny's gaze and looked over at Will.

"See," said Sonny, practically pointing. "So. Yeah. Upgrade."

"Ouch!" said Max, faking hurt. "Okay, I deserve that. But. There's no reason this has to be so hostile. I realize it's hard for us to forget about our history and the times that we shared but I'm hoping we can maybe all be friends."

"Of course," said Sonny, mentally adding the 'not.'

Craig came over and slid an arm around Max's waist possessively and smiled tightly at Sonny. "Hi, Sonny, how have you been? Good to see you again. Everything going okay, Max?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Max slipped his arm over Craig, leaned down and kissed him. Sonny rolled his eyes.

Suddenly Sonny felt someone at his side. It was Turtle. Turtle, who, knowing him, spotted the catastrophe from across the room and came over to rescue him. Well, he was doing just fine on his own wasn't he? He didn't need rescuing.

"Hey, wow, look at this," said Turtle. "Hi Max. Hi…"

"Craig," he said, reminding Turtle his name.

"Right. The guy who hates his mother. Hey, there."

"I don't hate—what? You always were weird, Turtle," said Craig, faking a smile.

"He's not weird!" says Sonny angrily.

"Yes, I am, Sonny. It's okay. I like being weird. How much have you had to drink anyway? Maybe you want to come over with me and get some more water."

"No, no, don't go anywhere, Sonny, it's nice catching up," said Max. Craig and Max exchanged a look. Craig's face looked like he could kill, suddenly, and Max added, "Sonny has a boyfriend now, Craig. Don't go, Sonny. Not until we have a chance to meet the guy you're dating. Why don't we get Will over here?"

Turtle stared at Sonny. Sonny stared at Turtle.

"Yes," said Sonny. "Turtle. Will you tell, my boyfriend, Will, that my ex-boyfriend would like to meet him, my boyfriend?"

"Ex boyfriends, plural," said Craig firmly, "Count me in. I definitely want to meet him."

Turtle shook his head 'no' at Sonny. Sonny nodded his head at Turtle. Turtle sighed and left to go talk to Will.

Max motioned to the table and Sonny sat. "Let me grab drinks," said Max.

"I'll help you carry, " said Craig. "We'll be right back." As the two left Sonny sitting alone—that's right, they just leave him there, as they walk off holding hands, he just sat there and waited for them. Why? Because he figured he really did have self-masochistic with a hint of self-loathing issues, as he first suspected. He should just get up and walk away. Instead he watched Turtle talking to Will.

Will looked over at him, and Sonny waved. Will frowned. Sonny shrugged, as Will came over to him.

Will practically groaned. "Oh, man, Sonny, please tell me we are not suddenly in some 1980's sitcom. You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend to make your ex-boyfriend jealous? "

"Ex boyfriends. Plural."

"What a ridiculous plan, Sonny. This storyline would get rejected for 'Tears and Fears' based on being too unrealistic and far-fetched."

"I don't care," said Sonny, stubbornly. "Can you just help me?"

"I—I just don't think it's a good idea. Really? You don't see the flaws in this? How drunk are you?"

"You've pretended before," said Sonny defensively. "As I recall, it was your idea to tell those girls that we were dating for two years."

"Two and half. You added that half," muttered Will. "This is different. This is—"

But Will doesn't get to finish that sentence, as Max returned with a pitcher of beer. "This one's on me," he said. Craig trailed behind and sets down four mugs.

"You must be Will Horton," said Max.

"This is Craig Wojak and Max Masters," said Sonny, practically spitting out the names.

"Nice to meet you," said Will. To Max, who was pouring the beers and passing them out, he said, "You know, I think we have a mutual friend, already. Don't you know Quincy Small?"

"Oh, he knows him," said Sonny. "Fuck, I think he was one of the guys he cheated on me with when we were dating! Great! And Craig? Were you doing him, too, while we were together? "

"No," said Max, "Sonny, stop," he said pleadingly.

"So over dramatic, tonight, Sonny," laughed Craig uncomfortably. "No need for theatrics, we really thought maybe you could move past these things. We were hoping you could be in a good place about all this." Craig turned to Max and he shook his head.

Sonny's mouth hung open and he tried to gather the words for the horrible emotions that flooded him at the moment.

"I get you," said Will quietly while nudging him with his shoulder. Damn, he didn't need Will's pity either. He took a long drink of the mug before him now.

"There's no reason we can't all be friends," said Max. He narrowed his eyes a bit at Will and turned to Sonny. "So how did you do two happen to meet?"

"Uh, in the student union, just, uh.. " said Sonny.

Will touched Sonny on his arm. "Can I?" asked Will, his voice low and gentle.

"Of course," Sonny agreed, looking at Will quizzically.

Will smiled at Max and shook his head, "See, it's kind of a funny story. It goes back to last year. I had some time to kill in between classes. There was about an hour or so gap in my schedule and rather than go all the way back to my room I usually just hung around the student center. I like to read, TV watch, people watch…

"Well, this one day, there was table full of people, seemed to be a study group of sorts, and I'm just studying a little and watching them. And there I see this incredibly gorgeous guy. His smile is the first thing I notice. It's the kind of smile that makes anyone instantly smile back. I swear, I was sitting at a table by myself just smiling because I 'm watching this guy smile!"

Sonny stared at Will and Will reached over and gave his hand a quick squeeze, then started tracing small circles onto the back of his hand while he talked, at a slow and thoughtful pace.

"And I'm watching, and he's got this way about him, with these people he's with. Like, he's listening to every one of them and he's so genuine and he's just got this easy, chill demeanor. When I finally really see his eyes, I'm just blown away. Tell me he doesn't have the kindest, most expressive eyes you have ever seen!"

He turned to Max, "And the clincher is, he's got this little rainbow flag pin in the corner of his backpack. And for me then it's like…suddenly… possible. My whole world suddenly seems larger. My whole future suddenly feels like it could be so much brighter. So there's that and also it's like he knows who he is, and he's not afraid to let the world know, you know?"

Will then looked at Max and leaned in, almost conspiratorial. "But he's in this study group and he's surrounded by these people, and I'm way too shy and nervous to try to go talk to him in front of everyone. So I just spend the next two hours—I skipped my class even—waiting to see if I can get an opportunity to talk to him by himself. Isn't that crazy? But, finally, their study session seems to be over, so everyone's starting to leave.

"So I get my things together, too, and next thing you know, I'm like a stalker, following him and his friends out of the student center. But we get to the doorway and now I see it's raining out. I mean, pouring. So what does he do? He and his friends, just book it. He just sorta puts up the hood of his sweatshirt and boom, off he goes, dashing away. I was sorta just stunned, left behind, before I even knew it, and I realize very quickly I have no idea where he went."

"Damn," said Craig.

"So that was that," said Will shrugging. "I tried to forget about him. But every semester, I'm not kidding, I'd look in all my new classes to see if he was there. Whenever I was in the student center, always on campus, I was always looking for him and that smile and those eyes and that rainbow flag pin."

He looked at Sonny and said quietly, "I could never find him."

"It's a big school," said Craig. "Most populated college in the Midwest."

"The timing would have been off," whispered Max.

Will paused to look at Max, but Sonny doesn't bother to take his eyes off Will.

"Well," said Will, "Then, thank God, just recently, it finally happened. I was back in the student center, passing through, actually-I was extremely busy that day-but I see out of the corner of my eye, a black backpack with a little rainbow pin. And so instantly I wonder…and I think, well, there's no way it's going to be the same guy.

"But…no, it really was him. I took one look at him and saw those same eyes, that same gorgeous face. That smile. And this time, I wasn't going to let him get away. This time I put my backpack right down at his table, and practically asked Sonny to marry me in the first ten minutes we met."

"Marry you?" said Max skeptically, perfectly arching one eyebrow.

Will chuckled. "Practically," he said, eyes on Sonny.

Sonny smiled back at Will. "Yeah," he murmurs back.

Will looks back at Max and Craig and shrugs. In the next moment, Pavolv's Dogs are starting to play a cover of "Almost Paradise" and Will leans close to Sonny and says hot in his ear, "I don't want to sit here and share you with these guys a minute longer, dance with me."

"Excuse us," said Sonny, not bothering to look at either one of them. "They're playing our song."


End file.
